"All hands on deck!" Every man, woman, and child immediately moved from their posts to line up along the deck of the ship. No one ever wanted to anger the captain. They stood waiting as Captain Misty descended from her quarters. The captain stood before them. Her tanned skin glowing in the light of the sun and the hair not covered by her captain's hat blew in the breeze off the sea. Her boots tapped at the wood under her feet and her flowing skirt billowed around her legs.

She stopped before her crew and smiled slightly before telling them what they had been called from their posts for. "We are about ta enter Dead Man's Cove. It's jus' a fancy name for some part of the sea ain't no man ever been back from. All kinds of crazy tales come from this area. Huge sea creatures and mermaids. Shit like that," She grinned which let her crew know that they should laugh at her little joke. As soon as the smile dropped, all noise ceased once again, "We're gonna be fine. We are goin' in there, and we are goin' out. A day tops. It'll be a short journey."

As the captain finished her speech, she nodded and everyone scurried off back to where they had come from. She sighed and walked back toward her quarters to consult her map yet again.

oooOOooOOooo

Late that night, they were deep into the middle of Dead Man's Cove. She had yet to notice anything strange, not even rough waters. Everyone had finally retired to their bunks after the day's work had been completed. It was this time during the night that she liked to get up and be alone with the sea. She would sit on the sides of her precious ship and hang her legs off over the side just staring out into the horizon lost in thought. Tonight was no different.

"You better watch out. You wouldn't want to fall off the side there, Captain," Misty jumped at the sudden voice and looked behind her only to see no one. "Down here, Captain."

Misty looked down into the water to see a woman looking up at her. No, she supposed woman wasn't exactly the correct term. This creature before her was a mermaid, and she was gorgeous. Misty froze in shock and opened and closed her mouth multiple times. The mermaid only laughed and swam closer to the thoroughly confused Captain.

"You know for a Captain, you don't say much," Misty blinked and pinched her own arm to make sure she hadn't passed out from exhaustion. Nope. She was definitely awake and there was definitely a mermaid in front of her.

"How'd ya know I was the Captain?" Of all the stupid things to ask, she had to go and ask that. The mermaid laughed and pointed toward Misty's hat. Oh yeah. "Well.. Jeez I don't know what to say. I didn't actually think that mermaids existed."

"Why do you think that no one ever comes back from this part of the sea, Miss Captain? We usually lure the Captains into the water. Of course, those Captains are usually men. So this is new to me. I'm Cordelia by the way. Nice to meet you," Cordelia smiled at her and Misty felt her heart skip a beat at the beautiful creature in the water.

"Umm, I'm Misty. Misty Day. Nice ta meet ya too, I guess. However, considering that ya just said ya might kill me, I dunno," Cordelia laughed loudly at that and splashed water up to wet the Captain's boots.

"So, Captain Misty, what brings you to Dead Man's Cove?" Cordelia laid back to swim on her back and look up at the beautiful Captain before her. Misty smiled down at her and couldn't believe that something so beautiful could be so dangerous.

"Well, I was jus' tryin' to find the quickest route home for me an' my crew. This was it. We jus' had ta come through here. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea after all," Misty looked uneasy and Cordelia pulled herself back up to look fully at the Captain above her.

"Why would you say that, Captain Misty? I'm not going to harm you," Cordelia actually looked hurt at the suggestion. Misty looked confused and swung her feet before answering the mermaid.

"Well, ya said ya lure Captains to their death. I dunno if I'm quite ready for that," Misty tried her hand at a joke and Cordelia only smirked before swimming even closer to the Captain. She could touch her now if she wanted to.

"I also said that I normally lured men. You don't look like a man to me. Men repulse me. I have fun killing them. But you. You interest me. I've never felt this way about someone before," Cordelia reached a hand up to touch a boot.

"What do ya mean, felt this way? What way do ya feel?" Misty shifted toward Cordelia and the mermaid ran her hand up the boot to feel the skin of her tanned calf. She sighed at the contact and Cordelia smirked at her again.

"I mean, my heart has never beaten this hard. I've never wanted to touch someone this badly. I've never thought someone was so beautiful before. I've never wanted to take a Captain and keep them for myself, to be with me forever," Cordelia sighed and pulled her hand away. She shifted slightly in the water away from Misty. She turned her back preparing to swim back to her home. Just then, she heard a splash behind her and looked up to see only boots left where Misty had been. A blonde head surfaced near her. A smiling face looked back at her.

"I've never felt this way before either. My heart has never felt like this. I've never smiled so hard from just havin' a conversation with someone. This may sound crazy, but I think I love ya" Misty moved closer and touched Cordelia's cheek and felt the mermaid lean into the touch. "Could you do that? Keep me forever I mean?"

"Yes, I have that capability. I can do that. But you would have to be completely sure about me and about giving up your old life. I wouldn't want to take you away from anything," Misty turned her head to look up at her ship. She smiled and looked back to her mermaid before leaning in to place a kiss to salty lips.

"I'm sure." And Cordelia pulled the Captain under the water with her, to live forever.

oooOOooOOooo

The next morning, the crew rose early only to find they were without a Captain.

"Has anyone seen Captain Misty?"